When somebody mentions the company 3dfx most people automatically associate them with the Voodoo. The Voodoo graphics chip has evolved into 5 generations providing users with some of the fastest gaming around. As you probably know, about one and a half years ago STB Systems and 3dfx merged into one company. Although STB Systems provided NVIDIA based video cards, they also delved into more than just video cards. They also had a product called the Desktop TV, which was a standard TV Tuner. When STB and 3dfx merged, much of the staff moved over to 3dfx. Until now 3dfx has dealt with solely graphic cards for gamers. Now 3dfx is boasting the fact that they are an entertainment company rather than a graphics company.

So how can they say this if they make graphic cards only? Well, simply because 3dfx is now delving into various other entertainment fields. Their first product was announced to us on the ninth of October, and is named the VoodooTV. We were involved in a conference call with other press people, and spoke with Kirk Leitch, Director Of Multimedia Products for 3dfx. We learned quite a bit about 3dfx's new product (which isn't just a normal TV Tuner), 3dfx's new business model, and a little bit about the future roadmap of 3dfx's multimedia products.

In this preview I will try to relay as much information as I can pertaining 3dfx's new product, and a little bit more in terms of 3dfx as a company.

Three Flavors

The VoodooTV will come in 3 different flavors, VoodooTV 100, VoodooTV 200, and VoodooTV FM (The VoodooTV FM will only be available in Europe). So what's the difference between the three? Let me explain each.